Who am I?

I have been an outspoken, Progressive voice in Central Florida and around the country. Before being elected to Congress in 2008, I helped whistleblowers in suing defense contractors cheating our soldiers and the taxpayers during the Iraq War. While in Congress, I passed legislation to crack down on bank executive bonuses and fought for stronger banking rules. I supported real health care reform that included the public option and tirelessly advocated for homeowners ravaged by foreclosure. After the Citizens' United decision that gave corporations the power to spend unlimited amounts of money, I immediately delivered 100,000 petitions to Congress to overturn the decision and introduced 6 bills tying to undo the damage of that decision.

Why am I running?

I am running for Congress again because we need strong Progressive voices in Congress. We cannot allow the Republicans to dismantle the middle class with their efforts to destroy health care, Social Security and Medicare. We cannot let corporations control our government any longer.

I am running to be the voice of the 46 million Americans without health insurance. I am running to be the voice of the 1 in 6 Americans who need food stamps to feed their family. I am running to be the voice of the 40% of Americans that owe more on their mortgage than what their house is worth. I am running to be the voice of those that are just one lost job or one illness away from being homeless.

My Goals

If elected, some of my top goals for my first year in office will be to hold Wall Street accountable to the people, and to undo the damage caused by the Supreme Court's Citizens' United decision. I will also fight to protect Social Security and Medicare from being slashed by the Republicans, and to bring about real health care reform. We will hold the banks accountable to those facing foreclosure and create jobs by investing in our public education system and green jobs at home.

My DFA Values

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My Campaign is People Powered!

My campaign is completely people-powered. We have more than 100,000 donors from around the country giving to our campaign. The average contribution is less than $100.

I believe that talking with voters one-on-one is the way to defeat the unlimited money unleashed by Citizens' United. That's why we strive to have the largest volunteer field campaign in the country. In 2008, we knocked on more than 300,000 doors, and made just as many phone calls. We will continue this type of strategy for 2012.

About the Endorsement Process

The driving force behind all DFA endorsements is our members. We recognize that all politics is local and that what is considered progressive in Los Angeles may be very different from what's considered progressive in Louisville. For this reason, DFA does not have a litmus test of specific progressive positions for which a candidate must stand. Our endorsement is heavily weighted based on these questions:

• Will the candidate move the progressive movement forward in their community?
• Does the candidate have substantial support from our local members?
• Do the candidate's positions and policies fit into the broader progressive movement?
• Is the campaign people-powered and the candidate working to win?

If you have questions, or want to let us know about a candidate in your neighborhood, please call us at (802) 651-3200 or email us at [email protected] .